BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV ----- It was a battle of titans at the 24th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting. The best tap water in the world hailed from Clearbrook, British Columbia where they get to add a third gold medal to their collection. The gold medal winner in the USA was Santa Ana, CA which moved up from a silver medal in 2012 and beat out four previous gold medalists. Greenwood, BC, Canada won the bronze. Tied for fourth were Dickinson, ND and Montpelier, OH while 2013’s winner, Emporia, KS placed fifth. All but one of the six top rated municipal waters had won at Berkeley Springs before.

The importance of a commitment to excellence in providing drinking water was underlined by the selection of Dian Taylor, CEO and President of the award-winning Artesian Resources of Delaware as the 2014 Lifetime Achievement award. Artesian is a public water provider to more than 300,000 customers in Delaware and Maryland.

“The consistency in winners from year to year with different panels of judges validates the choices,” remarked perennial watermaster, Arthur von Wiesenberger. “It also speaks to the impressively high caliber of the waters entered.”

Castle Rock Water from Dunsmuir, CA won over 32 other entries for the title of world’s best bottled water. Two waters were tied for the silver medal: Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado, CO and first time entrant, Samaria Natural Springs Water, Crete, Greece. The bronze medal went to Mountain Drop from Linthicum, MD bottling local Berkeley Springs water. A tie for fourth included another first time international entrant: Element, Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia along with Avita Premium Artesian Alkaline Water from Roscommon, MI.

More than 100 people crowded The Country Inn in Berkeley Springs on Saturday night including water representatives from South Korea and Thailand. Ten media judges spent hours tasting and selecting from among nearly 100 waters sourced in 18 states, three Canadian provinces and 12 foreign countries. For the first time in the contest’s history, an African water was entered. “Adding Tanzania gave us all six continents,” said Jeanne Mozier, an event founder.

Sparkling waters all are sourced from outside the United States. The best sparkling water in the world is Canadian Gold Sparkling Mineral Water, Marchand, MB, Canada with Jackson Springs Natural Premium Spring Water also of Manitoba winning second. Antipodes, Whakatane, New Zealand was third. Two Bosnian waters and another from New Zealand tied for fourth place.

Locals in the standing room only crowd cheered for the winner in the purified category. The gold medal was won by Mountain Drop from Linthicum, MD bottling local Berkeley Springs water. The silver was a tie between Indigo H2O, Elkhart, IN and Bar H2O, Richmond, MI. Berkeley Springs water entered under its own name of Berkeley Springs Purified Water won the bronze tied with January Springs, North Hatley, QC, Canada.

"It was another wonderful year for the longest running and largest water tasting in the world," said von Wiesenberger. "Berkeley Springs is the granddaddy of them all."

Conclusion of the daylong water tasting is the famed "water rush" where the audience is invited to take home hundreds of bottles of water sent as part of the judging. "I spent about six hours arranging all the waters in a display," said Jeanne Mozier, an event founder. "The crowd spent less than ten minutes making it all disappear. It's like a Tibetan sand mandala," she laughed. “I was pleased to see our favorite couple from Brooklyn in the rush. Peter and Cynthia Lloyd come every year especially for the water tasting – and the rush.”

The ten media judges selected by Klein Rone included representatives from various regional and national media including television and online magazines. They were instructed by von Wiesenberger to look, sniff and taste each water under guidelines similar to those in a wine tasting. The waters were rated for each attribute including appearance (it should be clear - or slightly opaque for glacial waters), aroma (there should be none), taste (it should taste clean), mouth feel (it should feel light), aftertaste (it should leave you thirsty for more). Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days.

The 25th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting is scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2015. For more information on Berkeley Springs or its water tasting, call 1-800-447-8797 or check online at www.berkeleysprings.com.